Sudan, Ethiopia to implement border demarcation in October
September 17, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – Ethiopia-Sudan joint committee will begin border demarcation between the two countries next month, a Sudanese minister said.
Engineer Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, Minister of the Interior announced the beginning of the demarcation of the border between Sudan and Ethiopia in the ninth of October this year by the joint Committee.
The minister further stressed the readiness of the joint technical committee to complete the demarcation to the fullest.
The minister made his statements following a ministerial meeting held in Khartoum on Wednesday to discuss the operational plan for redrawing the border between the two countries.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Salah Abdallah Gosh, presidential adviser, Gen. Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, defense minister, Mr. Samani Al-Wassila, state minister at the foreign ministry and several members of the Committee.
The meeting studied the readiness of all relevant services to complete the border demarcation and ways to overcome all obstacles. In this regard, an inter-ministerial commission has been formed including the department of survey and other relevant actors.
During several years of negotiations Sudan and Ethiopia on border demarcation, the two countries agreed to implement different development projects in the joint border for the benefit of the population of the two countries in the border area.
Joint committees of the border regions from the two sides meet regularly to discuss issues of common concern and joint projects.
During the past years, Sudanese and Ethiopian farmers disputed the landownership and some gunmen pillaged border villages. The two countries also suspected rebel groups of having presence in these areas.
Some Ethiopian opposition groups and organizations said opposed to the ongoing border demarcation between the two countries and accused the government of Meles Zenawi of dislocating Ethiopian farmers from their land to cede it to Sudan.
They further say Sudan in return committed its self to deport Ethiopian opponents and letting the ruling “EPRDF security agents roam” freely in the Sudan to harass and kidnap refugees.
Yesterday the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP) urged Sudan to “withdraw immediately and without condition from the Ethiopian territory that it is occupying in Gondar region.”
The opposition group said Sudanese authorities had “chased away Ethiopian peasants and farmers from their land, closed farms, stationed Sudanese soldiers on Ethioppian soil, damaged farm machinery, arrested and taken to the Sudan Ethiopian nationals and even killed several others over the past months.”
(ST)
josh dougllas
Sudan, Ethiopia to implement border demarcation in October
THIS IS HEADACHE. THIS BOUNDARY HAS CLAIMED THOUSANDS OF LIVES UNTIL THIS CENTURY. NOW IT IS HIGH TIME TO MAKE ANY BORDER SKIRMISH OR POTENTIAL CLAIM TO END. WOW MAY THIS PLAN NOT BE ABORTIVE, BEAR THE FRUIT.
THE TWO PEOPLES ARE LIVING IN BROTHERHOOD FOR CENTURIES BUT NOW A DAY PEOPLE ARE…………..
GOD BE WITH US
Samson Shawel Ambaye
Sudan, Ethiopia to implement border demarcation in October
Ethiopia stretches forth her hands for God.
No matter what both Sudan and Ethiopia are with out governments. Sudan has Bashir prisoner of ICC Ethiopia has genocide criminal woyane accused of genocide crimes to become like his ally Bashir. Read the following letter
GENOCIDE WATCH
THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO END GENOCIDE
Genocide Watch is the Chair of the International Campaign to End Genocide
P.O. Box 809, Washington, D.C., USA 20044. Phone: 703-448-0222
E-mail:[email protected] Website: http://www.genocidewatch.org
March 23, 2009
An Open Letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Justice Navanathem Pillay
Petitions Team
Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Dear Madame High Commissioner,
Advocates of justice around the world are thrilled at the strong action the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court has taken in issuing a warrant for the arrest of Omar al-Bashir of the Sudan, resulting in
finally holding him accountable for the atrocities being committed in Darfur over the last six years. Under
al-Bashir’s leadership, millions of Sudanese from Darfur, as well as from Southern Sudan, have suffered
inconceivable harm, injustice and hardship.
The action that the International Criminal Court has taken in this situation has restored hope to peace and
justice loving people, affirming that international human rights law not only exists on paper, but in reality.
It also sends an important message to perpetrators throughout the world that impunity for their crimes is not
assured forever; which may be a primary reason that one of the first leaders to defend Omar al-Bashir and
condemn the warrant was Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, whose government has also been
implicated in a pattern of widespread perpetration of serious human rights atrocities in Ethiopia and in
Somalia. He and those within his government may be keenly aware of their own vulnerability to similar
actions by the ICC in the future that could upend a deeply entrenched system of government-supported
impunity that has protected perpetrators from any accountability.
I first became knowledgeable regarding the abhorrent human rights situation in Ethiopia when Genocide
Watch and Survivors Rights International were called by the head of the Anuak Justice Council, Obang
Metho, (now the leader of the newly formed Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia) to investigate the
brutal massacre of 424 Anuak carried out in Gambella, Ethiopia in December of 2003. The Anuak are a
tiny, dark-skinned ethnic group who live in a remote section of southeastern Ethiopia.
Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and civilian militia groups from another ethnic group utilized a
prepared list to target Anuak leaders, many of whom were opposed to the government’s plan to exclude
them from any involvement in the drilling for oil on their indigenous land. As militia groups chanted,
“Today is the day for killing Anuak,” both the military and militias used machetes, axes and guns to kill the
unarmed victims, frequently raping the women while chanting, “Now there will be no more Anuak
children.”
Extra-judicial killings, rape, disappearances, destruction of livelihood and the displacement of thousands of
Anuak continued into late 2005 before finally subsiding when the same Ethiopian National Defense Forces
were moved to the Ogaden area of southeastern Ethiopia and into Somalia where similar atrocities were
and still are being committed. A subsequent investigation of the Anuak massacre by Genocide Watch and
Survivors Rights International to determine who was behind the human rights crimes, documented the
existence of a plan called “Operation Sunny Mountain,” that could be traced to originating at the highest
levels within the central government of Ethiopia.1
1 See: http://genocidewatch.org/Today%20is%20the%20Day%20of%20Killing%20Anuaks.htm ;
http://genocidewatch.org/EthiopiaAnuakOperationSunnyMountainGWSRIReport13December2004.htm
and updates at http://www.genocidewatch.org/alerts/anuak.htm ; and
www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/IHRLC.pdf .
GENOCIDE WATCH
THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO END GENOCIDE
Genocide Watch is the Chair of the International Campaign to End Genocide
P.O. Box 809, Washington, D.C., USA 20044. Phone: 703-448-0222
E-mail:[email protected] Website: http://www.genocidewatch.org
As a result of our investigation and based on our experience in international law and genocide, we
concluded that the killing of the Anuak in Gambella, Ethiopia, fit the definitions of genocide and crimes
against humanity. Human Rights Watch also conducted two investigations of their own and determined that
the crimes against the Anuak meet the stringent definition of crimes against humanity.
Most of the perpetrators in their report and in ours have never been brought to justice under the Ethiopian
justice system due to the failings and corruption of that system. Despite the violation of international law,
not only has no one has been held accountable for these crimes which occurred over five years ago, but
worse than that, such crimes continue in other places in the country.
Only some of these cases have been investigated by respected international human rights organizations, but
where they have, findings consistently point to the involvement of the Ethiopian government in the inciting,
the empowerment or the perpetration of crimes against humanity, war crimes and even genocide, often
justified by them as “counter-insurgency.”
In light of these facts, I would strongly urge you to initiate an investigation of the situation in
Ethiopia based on your proprio motu powers as the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
We believe that your investigation is justified due to the culture of impunity that exists within Ethiopia.
Extensive documentation is available to examine the violations, most of which has been compiled in
independent investigative reports completed by international human rights organizations. We also believe
that the Ethiopian people have been waiting long enough for genuine justice and relief from the harsh
oppression and brutal tactics committed by a government that purports to be a partner in the War on Terror,
while terrorizing their own people. Addressing the EPRDF regime, friendly to Omar al-Bashir, may bring
greater stability to the entire Horn of Africa.
We are willing to provide assistance to you in carrying out this task because we, in Genocide Watch, and
other human rights organizations are determined to pursue justice, even long after violations have occurred,
as part of our mission. Investigative reports, contacts and other information can be provided should you
need them.
I thank you for the excellent work you are doing in combating impunity, the enemy of justice. Perpetrators
of crimes against humanity must not be allowed to walk free. Genocide Watch will continue to do its part,
collaborating with others, in pursuing additional ways to make such crimes carry a heavy penalty. One way
is to work with domestic governments to make sure that those Ethiopians who have committed these crimes
do not gain access to entry into western countries, something that is now supported through new legislation
in many of the western countries. Additionally, in Canada, Europe and in the US, there are now laws giving
authority to these governments to prosecute human rights perpetrators found within their new countries of
residence should admissible evidence be found to charge them. The western countries should no longer act
as a haven for such criminals.
Thank you for your consideration of this request for the initiation of an investigation of genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes in Ethiopia. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely yours,
GHStanton
Dr. Gregory Stanton,
President of Genocide Watch
Obama scolded Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi
April 3rd, 2009 | Categories: Ethiopia | 19 Comments
U.S. President Barack Obama scolded Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi during a brief one-to-one encounter at the G20 meeting in London on April 2. Obama reportedly told Meles that the human rights condition in Ethiopia is deplorable and unacceptable.
Following a meeting with Obama, Meles Zenawi, who was invited to represent New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) at the G20 meeting, abruptly canceled a press conference he was about to give.
“His people gave no reasons for this. But insiders in the press center said Zenawi was worried about the kind of questions that were going to be put to him concerning human rights violations within Ethiopia and his dealing with his opponents and Ethiopia’s neighbors,” Henry Gombya of BSN reported.
“The African continent really wasn’t heard; South African President Motlanthe said he didn’t speak for the continent and Meles Zenawi cowered in the shadows,” Gombya writes.